Falafel is surprisingly easy

1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (or quick soak), drained and rinsed
3 Tbsp fresh parsley leaves

3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 tsp paprika
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeño, chopped
1 tsp sea salt

3/4 tsp baking soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

Heat about 1/2 inch safflower or sunflower oil on medium heat in an enameled cast iron pan.

Add the drained chickpeas to a food processor.  Pulse for about 30 seconds.  Add the herbs, paprika, garlic, onion, jalapeño and salt.  Process, scraping down the bowl as needed, until it's a smooth paste, about 2 minutes, mixing in the dissolved baking soda just before frying.

 
Form about 2 tablespoons of mixture into balls, slightly flatten, and drop into the hot oil in batches (however many comfortably fit).  Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute, flip and cook another minute, until golden brown. Transfer to a towel-lined plate to drain.

Makes 12 small patties, 3-4 servings.

Serve with tahini sauce, thin sliced red onion, kalamata olives, chopped cucumber and tomato with lemon and sea salt, on homemade pita. 

Based on a recipe from the Food Network with input from my Israeli mother-from-another-brother (and sister).

Strawberry Rose Petal Preserves

The local Foodshed had an amazing sale on strawberries.  The recent heat wave caused the strawberry fields to smell like jam, which is heavenly but means it's the last of the strawberries.  So it's time to jam.

I wanted to add an additional flavor; looking at what was available in my yard, I thought roses would go beautifully with strawberries.  I picked a bunch of 'purple splash' rose petals and a Meyer lemon from the garden.  I use Pomona universal pectin, mostly because that's what's available at the co-op, but also because it allows me to use less sugar than some recipes.

flower rainbow for pride month;
that's a 'purple splash' rose on the upper left corner.

1.25-1.5 cups evaporate can sugar, organic, fair trade

3 teaspoons pectin

5 cups strawberries (1.5-2 pounds), sliced thick

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 teaspoons calcium water (from the pectin packet)

2 cups rose petals, tightly packed

Place a small plate in the freezer. If canning, prep all your tools and equipment, and start boiling water for processing.  Make the calcium water.

In a small bowl, add sugar.  Sprinkle with pectin and stir well. Send aside.

Put a large cast iron enameled pot on high heat.  Add the sliced strawberries. lemon juice, and calcium water.  Bring to a boil, stirring.  Sprinkle in the sugar mix and stir vigorously to dissolve sugar while bringing it back to a boil.  Stir in the rose petals and boil for 5 minutes. Test to see if the jam is set by putting a teaspoonful of liquid jam onto the frozen plate.  Allow plate to cool for 2 minutes in the fridge.  If the jam gels, it's ready.  If not, test every 2 minutes.  When it's done, remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.

If canning, fill jars leaving a half-inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 4.5 cups.  I made three batches, which made 13 cup jars—the perfect fit in my canning pot.

Eggplant with thai basil, garlic and fried tofu

This is the first year I've grown eggplant.  It's generally not a plant I get excited to eat, although the fruit and flowers are so beautiful and I have a strong affinity for purple vegetables.  So when I saw the Baker Creek description for Chinese string eggplant as the best-tasting they're grown, it sounded like the perfect opportunity to give eggplant a shot in my garden.  I only got one plant to take up roots but one was enough: it's been quite prolific and produces plenty for the two of us to eat eggplant once a week.  It grows right next to the Thai basil.

peanut oil
1/2 lb tofu, extra firm, blotted dry, cut in 3/4 inch cubes
1/3 yellow onion, sliced
10 Chinese string eggplants (about 1 1/4 lbs) , sliced in 1 in diagonal pieces
4 large cloves garlic, minced
large handful of Thai basil leaves
3 T rice vinegar or lime juice
1/4 c nama shoyu or soy sauce
3 T brown sugar
sriracha to taste, optional

In a large sauce pan, heat 1/8 inch of oil on high.  Cook tofu on 2 sides until golden brown.  Remove from oil and let drain.

Pour out most of the oil but leave some in the pan.  On high heat, stir fry onion until they start to soften.  Add eggplant and stir fry until mostly soft.  Add garlic and basil, stirring until basil is wilted.  Add the rest of ingredients and allow to steam and reduce until sauce thickens, softening the eggplant.  Stir in the fried tofu and serve over brown rice.

Serves 2-3

Crackers - plain, herbed, seedy, or peppery

Crackers are a pretty simple recipe to pull off, but I've never made them before!  The trick was getting the dough rolled out as thin as I could and baking until golden, not brown, on the edges.

1 c all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1 t course sea salt
1 t evaporated cane sugar
3 T butter, melted, or olive oil
1/2 c water

Flavor options:

2 t fresh thyme or rosemary, chopped fine
1 t fresh ground black pepper or other spice

2 t seeds (poppy, sesame, flax, chia...)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pulse the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and any herbs, seeds or spices in a food processor until well mixed. Add the butter or oil and pulse 6 times.  Add the water and pulse about 10 seconds, just until the dough starts to stick together.  Remove dough, press together to form a ball, and cut into four, and let rest for 10 minutes.

For each piece of dough, roll out on a lightly-floured surface as thin as you can.  Cut into whatever size and shape you want.  Place on the baking sheet.  Bake 4-5 minutes, then flip each cracker and bake another 4-5 minutes, making sure they don't get too brown.  Let cool to crisp.

Makes roughly 50 small crackers

Based on Carla Hall's and Alton Brown's recipes.

Loquat Chamoy

Flipping through the latest Edible SD magazine, I turn to the last page and see a simple, short recipe for chamoy.  I'm not a huge fan of sweet-spicy but my little brother and sister love it, so I thought I'd whip some up for them.

It seemed odd to me that their recipe called for apricots, which are not easily or often grown in San Diego.  With a plethora of loquats on my trees and multiple jars of freshly jammed loquats in my cupboard, it struck me as the perfect use for them.  Being ubiquitous here, currently in season, and, while not native, a big part of my Mexican culinary heritage, it's an obvious choice.  So here's my version:

4-6 loquats, peeled and seeded
1/2 cup loquat preserves
zest and juice of 3 small limes
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4-1 teaspoon ancho chile powder (to taste)
3/4-1 teaspoon cayenne chile powder (to taste)

Add all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Makes about 1 cup.

Serve on fruit sorbets, fresh fruit, fruity drinks, shave ice, cheesecake, tostilocos...

Vanilla Loquat Preserves

A great crop on my favorite loquat tree this year!  I'll be making a few versions of this jam this month:

16 cups loquats (seeded and quartered)

4 cups sugar (or less)
1/2 cup lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla extract (or see other variations)

Remove the blossom end of the loquats, seeds, and cut into quarters.  In a large enameled pot (or other high heat tolerant, non-reactive pot), mix the loquats with sugar and lemon juice and let sit for at least a half hour.

On high heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly, to gel point (could be 20-60 minutes - test a small amount of jelly on a plate you've kept in the freezer; return the plate to the freezer for 1 minute.  If the jelly wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it is done.)  Stir in vanilla extract.

If you're canning, fill jars leaving 1/2 inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Makes 9 cups.

Variations:
Instead of vanilla, try 16 leaves rose geranium, zest of an orange, or 1 teaspoon cardamom added when you bring it to a boil.

Lavender Mulberry Preserves

Looking at and smelling the lavender growing next to my mulberry tree made me think their delicate flavors might be nice together.

Lavender in foods can be tricky.  Too little and you can't detect it, too much and it tastes like soap.  To avoid overpowering flavors I always use fresh lavender.  It's quite subtle in this recipe:

6 pounds fresh mulberries

4 1/2 cups sugar
24 springs of fresh lavender, tied together in a bouquet garni
3/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons calcium water (comes with Pomona's universal pectin powder)
2 tablespoons pectin powder

Rinse mulberries and clip the little stem off (this part takes forever).

In a large enameled pot (or other high heat tolerant, non-reactive pot), mix the mulberries with sugar and lavender and let sit in the fridge for 8 hours.

Put mulberry mix on high heat.  Stir in the lemon juice and calcium water.  Slowly sprinkle in the pectin stirring it in as you goes so as to avoid lumps.  Boil, stirring constantly, to gel point (test a small amount of jelly on a plate you've kept in the freezer; return the plate to the freezer for 1 minute.  If the jelly wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it is done.)

If you're canning, fill jars leaving 1/2 inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Makes 12 cups.

Variations:
Try a different herb instead of lavender, such as sage, mint, lemon verbena, or rose geranium.
Instead of lemon juice, use 1/4 cup white or dark balsamic vinegar and eliminate the herb.

Mulberry Preserves with Homemade Pectin

In the past, I have not been patient or experienced enough to get mulberries to the correct jam consistency.  Mulberries don't have enough pectin on their own to jam, I've always wanted to make my own pectin, and I had a couple pomelos hanging around.  So this year, I did a bit more research, used the turbo burner on my stove to get the temp up and voila!  Success!

4 pounds fresh mulberries
homemade citrus pectin from half a pound of pith
2 7/8 cups sugar
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice or vinegar of your choice)

Rinse mulberries and clip the little stem off (this part takes forever).

In a large enameled pot (or other high heat tolerant, non-reactive pot), mix the mulberries with sugar and let sit in the fridge for 8 hours.

Put mulberry mix on high heat, add pectin and vinegar, and stir frequently to 220 degrees or to gel point (this part can take awhile - be patient to get to that gel point)

If you're canning, fill jars leaving 1/2 inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Mulberry Cordial

Mulberry season is in full force, but a month later than recent years after a long, cool, wet winter.  My tree is quite prolific; I have plenty to share with neighbors, friends, family, birds and squirrels.  I'm also looking for more recipes to try to use them up.  Of course, I always jam them.  I love them in a meyer marmalade.  I'll borrow my mom's dehydrator.  And here's a cordial/syrup:

3 cups mulberries
1 1/2 cups evaporated cane sugar

juice of a small lemon

In a quart jar, crush berries and sugar and add lemon juice. Let steep in fridge for 1-2 days, then strain out the fruit.

Keep refrigerated up to a week. This can also be canned to be shelf stable for up to a year.

Serve with sparkling water over ice or to sweeten iced tea or lemonade.

Variation: add 1 1//2 cups of vinegar (balsamic, red wine, or apple cider) after straining to make a shrub.

Herbal Bliss Tea

Based on Jyoti-Bihanga's Nirvana tea, I had to recreate it with my own spin for at-home permagrin.  This tea is for calming and relaxation, to help with stress, anxiety, and insomnia.

If you can use fresh herbs, awesome!  I'll be planting more perennial herbs this winter now that we finally got some rain to loosen the soil.  In the meantime, I'll be using dried herbs from the co-op's bulk herbs section.  (Some of these are potent herbs so make sure they are safe for you)

1/2 cup spearmint
1/2 cup peppermint
3 tablespoons lemon balm
2 tablespoons skullcap
1 tablespoon passionflower (passiflora incarnata)
1 tablespoon damiana
1 tablespoon valerian root - this one is stinky!

Mix well and store in an air-tight glass jar in a cool, dark place.  To make tea, pour 1 cup boiling spring water over 2 tablespoons of the mix and allow to steep for 10-30 minutes.  Serve hot or iced.

Pickled Purple Jalapeño and Hot Carrots

My purple jalapeño plant is so productive! I've made hot sauce twice and now I need to come up with more recipes. I like my hot carrots a little on the sweet side but if you don't you can eliminate the honey. And use any vinegar and onions that you prefer.

2 small bunches small carrots from Schaner Farms at the farmers market

4 small jalapeños from my garden, sliced into rings
1/4 white onion, thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and lightly smashed

3 sprigs fresh Mexican oregano from my garden
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup spring water
3 tablespoons local honey
1 tablespoon sea salt

Stuff the herbs, veggies, & salt in a pint-sized jar. In a small sauce pan, bring the water, vinegar, & honey to a boil. Pour into jar to the top. Screw the lid on tight and allow to cool. Store in the refrigerator for a couple days before eating.

Elderflower cordial

There are lots of flowering umbels on my native elderberry bush and my lemon tree is bearing lots of fruit so it's the perfect time to make cordial/syrup. [Update: I've found I can rub the flowers off the umbels into my measuring cup so I don't need to cut the elder or snip each tiny flower from the umbel.]:

3 cups spring water
3 cups evaporated cane sugar

3/4 teaspoon citric acid (I found mine in the bulk section of the natural foods store, you could omit it if you will use up the syrup in the next few days)
2 cups fresh elderflowers, destemmed, remove any bugs or debris
juice and zest of 2 small lemons

Heat water, sugar, and citric acid, stirring, until just dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a quart jar, place flowers. juice and zest. Fill jar with syrup and let steep in fridge for 3 days, giving it a gentle shake to stir once a day, then strain out the flowers and zest.

Keep refrigerated. This can also be canned to be shelf stable for up to a year.

Serve with sparkling water over ice or to sweeten iced tea or lemonade.

Purple Jalapeño Hot Sauce

I've been meaning to pick these beautiful, dark purple jalapeños for a while but it's serendipitous that I didn't because now this hot sauce is flavorful with dissipating heat and a natural sweetness from purple jalapeños that ripened into red.

7 small-medium jalapeños, stemmed
2 scallions, rough chopped, also from the garden
1 huge garlic clove, peeled, from Schaner Farm
1/2 cup vinegar (I used champagne vinegar cuz that's what I had on hand)
juice of 1 small lime, from Good Taste Farm
1 teaspoon sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree a few minutes until smooth.

Marinated artichoke hearts from the garden

With more artichokes than I know what to do with...

I can make my own marinated artichoke hearts!

I love to eat them straight out of the jar but they can be a bit pricey and hard to find them organic. The hardest (well, time-consuming) part was prepping the artichokes down to the soft, completely edible part.  I would do well to pick them earlier and much smaller next time.

I was pretty unsatisfied with the recipes I found online so here's what I came up with:

artichokes (the younger the better)
juice if a lemon
water

Half fill a pot with water and add the lemon juice. Working with 1 artichoke at a time, snap off the outer leaves until you reach the tender inner leaves. Cut off tough or bottom sharp parts of leaves, trim and peel the stem, and trim any dark green or tough skin from the base. Cut the artichoke into quarters or eights (depending on size), cut away any visible choke and place in the lemon water.

Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer for about 10 minutes, until the artichokes are barely tender.

For each 1 1/2 cups of processed artichokes:

1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

3 large garlic cloves, sliced 

a pinch or 2 of red chile pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 sprig fresh thyme leaves
1 sprig fresh oregano
1/8 teaspoon peppercorns

a bay leaf

long curl of lemon zest

juice of a lemon

1/4 cup white wine or champagne vinegar

water

In a small saucepan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-low heat and add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the oil, along with the salt, herbs, zest and vinegar. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Remove all the herbs and spices and transfer them to a 12-ounce jar. Stuff jar with the artichoke pieces and pour on the rest of the oil & vinegar mixture. Add just enough water to cover. Top with a tightly fitting lid, let cool and refrigerate. Let them cure for at least a day, turning occasionally to mix the flavors. Remove from fridge and allow to come to room temp before serving.

Discovering my Ancestral Roots Chili

I feel like such a curandera, with all my spices and backyard herbs, using mostly indigenous ingredients, channeling my tartara abuelita, stirring an aromatic pot of thick, bubbling beany pot liquor. I'm glad I can grow harder-to-find herbs like mexican oregano.

Here's a chili half-way between my black bean chili and chicana power chili beans from Decolonize your Diet:

1 cup dried beans (black, tiger, mayocoba...), sorted, rinsed, and soaked in spring water overnight
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ medium onion, chopped (from Schaner Farm via the Little Italy Farmers Market)
1-2 mild chiles (such anaheim, pasilla, or poblano - or maybe a jalapeño if you like it spicy), chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried (preferably mexican) oregano or a couple teaspoons fresh from the herb spiral
cayenne to taste (start with a pinch, if you're wimpy; up to 1/4 teaspoon if you like it spicy)

1½ teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
3 large cloves garlic, minced (from Schaner or Sage Mt Farm)
¾ cup tomato, fresh chopped or crushed canned in glass
juice of a small orange from mom's backyard

sea salt (about 1 teaspoon)

Sauté the onion, chile, and spices in the oil in a medium pot on medium-low heat until soft, about 10 minutes, stirring (do not brown). Add garlic and tomato and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add orange juice and beans (drained well) and cover with spring water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat for a low simmer and cook covered until soft, about 2 hours. Salt to taste. Serve with skillet cornbread.

Garnish Options: jack cheese (from Spring Hill), avocado, cilantro, green onions

Variations: add in sautéd zucchini, kale, corn, baked tempeh chunks...

Balsamic Caramelized Onion Jam

1/4 cup olive oil
6 medium-sized yellow onions, quartered and sliced thin, from Schaner Farm
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, minced, from my backyard
2 teaspoons whole grain dijon mustard
1/4 cup sucanat, rapadura, or other brown sugar
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar (I used a sweet, syrupy type; you could also use a dark one)

Heat the oil over medium heat, stir in onion, thyme and sea salt; cook covered, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, until soft and golden. Reduce heat to low, stir in mustard, sugar and vinegar; simmer for 15 minutes or until reduced to jam consistency.

Makes about 2 cups


adapted from The Produce Companion

DIY Pita Bread

I've tried making pita before - based on watching my siblings' Israeli other mother - with less success. This time, like my blended family, I blended in an actual recipe, which worked much better for me!

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 packet (or 1 cake) yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sea salt

3 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour (or whole wheat or bread flour)
1 Tbsp olive oil

In a large mixing bowl, bloom yeast in warm water with sugar.

Stir in salt and mix in flour a little bit at a time until it comes together in a ball (about 5 minutes in the mixer with a bread hook), then knead until shiny and elastic. Return to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise until springy and airy, about 1 1/2 hours.

Work small handfuls of dough by pushing dough up through bottom middle of dough, forming a ball. Let rest for 15 minutes.

Roll out a ball in a thin round, about 6 inches.

On medium heat, warm a skillet with a glass lid. When hot, add dough round and cook until bubbling with lid on (about a minute - in the meantime, roll out your next ball); flip and cook with lid on until (hopefully) the air pocket forms (about 1 minute).

Makes a dozen.

Delicious with hummus & salad

POG juice & passion fruit superbloom

Wow, my passion fruit is prolific! After not getting any fruit the first year I planted it, this summer we hand-pollinated all the flowers, which bloomed all of May and June.

It wasn't too daunting a task as there were only a handful of flowers a day, 12 at the most. We started reaping the bountiful harvest in early August. After a heat wave and then a touch of rain, here we are in early in September, the plant is covered in ripening fruit, and now has 30-50 flowers a day!

Passion fruit is a heavy feeder (I fertilize it every month that it's flowering/fruiting) and drinker (but hey, what am storing this rainwater for?).  It felt like the fruit would never ripen - but of course it did; they fall off the vine when they're ready - how convenient! Thanks, Mother Nature!

Juicing the fruit is pretty easy: cut in half, scoop out the flesh into a mesh stainer, and use a rubber spatula to stir and press the juice out (this process is faster than it sounds).

I planted passion fruit because I wanted to make POG - passion orange guava juice. I use a 1:1:1 ratio of oranges to passion fruit to small guavas. For the guava, I peel and seed the fruit and blend it with the passion and orange juice.

Homegrown Roasted Tomatillo-Tomato Salsa

My first time successfully growing tomatillos! Along with my homegrown tomatoes, garlic and cilantro, it's so satisfying to grow almost all the ingredients in this salsa! Now if I can just get my chile plants to produce...

1 1/2 pounds of tomatillos, peeled
several blue beauty tomatoes
1 large head garlic cloves, peeled
2 poblano chiles from Schaner Farm
1 bunch fresh cilantro, including stems
1/2 tsp sea salt, more or less to taste

Roast tomatillos, tomatoes, garlic and chiles on a baking sheet under a 400 degree broiler until blistered and soft (10-20 minutes), turning chiles as needed. Cool & peel tomatoes and chiles. Transfer to blender, including juice, and add cilantro and salt. Blend to a course puree.

Makes about 4 cups - if this is too much, freeze or can some of the puree for later.

This is a great sauce for enchiladas!

Almond Milk

"The hardest part about being vegan is having to wake up at 5am to milk all the almonds."

There's a lot of basic almond recipes out there and this is the version I make for my spouse. He loves cereal but his tummy can't handle processed dairy milk. And I'm quite happy to help us decrease our dairy intake.

1 cup raw unpasteurized almonds from Terra Bella Farm
spring water
2 1/2 medjool dates (or to taste)
a goodly pinch of sea salt
1/2 inch vanilla bean pod or a teaspoon of vanilla extract

Soak almonds in spring water for 12-24 hours (this makes the milk creamier).

In a blender, add almonds and enough water to measure 4 cups. Add dates and salt. Blend on high for 2 minutes. Strain with cheesecloth, or better yet, a linen napkin (this part takes forever because I want to squeeze all the liquid I can out of the cheesecloth - save that almond paste for other recipes). Scrape vanilla bean seeds into the milk and shake to combine.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups. Lasts about 3 days.